The Young Trail Hunters Part 11

"Yer see boys, I was bringed up in Tennessee; leastways, I lived thar till I was nigh onter seventeen year old, when I struck out and come to Texas.

"Father hed a farm in Tennessee, and ez I was the only boy, I had a heap of work ter do on the cussid place. I didn't like fannin' much, and used ter tease the old folks ter let me go down ter Knoxville and go into a store, or enter inter some other ekelly 'spectable bizness. But the old folks allowed that I must stay with 'em till I was twenty-one, any how.

"One day when I was about sixteen year old, the old man said ter me, 'Jerry, I've got a lot of wood cut, up on the mountain-lot, that wants piling up. Yer'd better take yer dinner and an axe along, and go up and pile it. Do it nice now, 'cause I shall be up 'bout noon, ter see how you git 'long.'

"I knowed what that meant, well enuff; it meant that, if I didn't do it right, I'd git a gaddin', 'cause the old man was famous for gaddins'.

"Arter breakfast mother put me up a good dinner of bread and meat, and I shouldered my axe and started for the wood-lot, 'bout three miles up the mountain.

"I whistled along and didn't think nothin' 'bout ther walk; 'cause, yer see, I allus liked ther woods, and enjoyed bein' thar. Arter I got to the lot, I found the wood, and went ter work to get it piled. 'Twarn't much of a job, and I got it done afore noon and then sot down on a log and waited for the old man ter come. Wal, I sot and waited, and begun ter get mighty lonesome and ter think 'bout Injins, though I knowed there warn't no Injins thar. I waited so long I got hungry, and concluded I'd take a bite of the bread and meat mother'd put up.

"I sot down on a log, and put my basket on the stump, and went ter eatin'. I never smelt anything so good as that dinner smelt, less 'twas a good venison steak on the coals, when you're putty hungry.

"Wal, I sot there, eatin' away, and, the fust thing I knowed, I kind 'er felt suthin' tetch my shoulder. I turned my head, and thar was a big black bar, with his nose within a foot of mine. I've seen bars sence that time, and big ones too, but that bar looked bigger'n a ox ter me. I didn't stop for nothin', but jist lited out, and the bar arter me. Maybe yer think you've seen runnin'; but I tell yer honestly, boys, yer never see nothin', like ther time I made gittin' away from that bar.

"I looked over my shoulder once in a while, but 'twarn't no use; thar was that bar right behind me, growin' bigger and bigger every minute, it seemed ter me. The harder I run, the wus I was off. I didn't gain a foot on ther critter. My heart riz rite inter my throte, and my bar riz up so I lost my cap,--leastways I've allus 'spected that was the reason I lost it. I didn't know what ter do. I kep' on runnin', but my wind was givin'

out, and I knew I couldn't stan' it much longer; so I made a break for a good sized white birch I see, and the way I s.h.i.+nned up thet tree, would a bin a credit to any major-gen'ral, I tell yer.

"When ther bar come to ther foot of ther tree he sot down on his haunches, ter kinder get breath a little, and then he begun ter climb it; and blast my picter boys, ef he couldn't giv me three pints in the game of climbin', and then beat me. It didn't seem ter me he was more'n a second, gittin' up. I kep' climbin' higher an' higher, and the bar kep'

a-follerin'. By and by I got so high, that ther tree begun ter bend backwards and for'ards, but ther bar kep' comin' higher and higher.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jerry and the Bear.]

"I saw 'twarn't no use, so I made up my mind ter swing ther tree over ez far ez I could, and drop and try my legs onct more. So I clim' a little higher, and when the tree begun ter bend, that bar sot thar and just laffed, if ever a bar laffed in this world. The tree kep' swayin'

back'ards and for'ards jist like a cradle.

"I watched my chance, and, when ther top come putty nigh ther ground, I jist dropped, and, when I picked myself up, blast my eyes, ef thar warn't ther bar, right side er me. Wal I started agin, but hadn't run more'n fifty yards, afore I tripped and down I went. I knowed 'twas all up with me then, so I jist laid still. Why, I was so scart I couldn't hev moved ef I'd tried; but I did look up jist once, to see the bar set clus by, watchin' me, and lookin' as mad as a wet hen.

"I never was so scart afore nor since. I 'spected every minute to feel his teeth and hear my bones a-crunchin', but I didn't.

"Putty soon I heered somebody down in the woods a-callin'. I 'spectcd it was dad, but I didn't dare to holler or make any noise. I heered 'em callin' agin and agin; putty soon I jist looked out'er ther corner of my eye, and see the bar was gone. At first I couldn't believe it, and 'spected he was playin' 'possum--waitin' ter see ef I moved, afore he went for me. Well, I kep' putty still for a while, but not hearin'

anything from the bar, I finally looked up, and see that he'd gone for good, and then I got up and started for home in just about ez big a hurry, ez any feller ever went down a mountain.

"I hadn't got more'n half a mile afore I see a feller rite ahead of me, a-leadin' that identical bar, thet bed been chasin' me all day.

"I never was so took down in my life boys, I wouldn't a bin s'prised at anything, arter thet. I mustered up s.p.u.n.k enuff ter speak to the feller, and he told me 'twas a tame bar, thet belonged ter him, thet hed got loose thet day, and he'd bin up a-findin' him.

"Well boys, I never felt so ashamed of myself afore nor since.

"You may bet, I never told no one 'bout it afore, and I shan't agin.

That's all."

We were very much amused at Jerry's story, and the boys p.r.o.nounced it decidedly the best they had yet heard, and as the hour was late, we all "turned in," in search of a good night's rest.

CHAPTER VIII.

The following morning, we once more took the road, and for three days followed the course of the river, which carried us through the most undesirable portion of country we had yet seen; even game seemed to have forsaken it.

The route then brought us into the vicinity of the celebrated "Comanche Springs," situated in the open prairie, at the crossing of the great Comanche war trail that leads into Mexico--a trail that may with truth, be said, to be marked with whitened bones, its entire distance.

As we were likely at any time to meet with bands of Comanches in this neighborhood, it became necessary to travel with the greatest precaution; but even this did not appear to prevent one of the "varmints," as old Jerry called him, from boldly coming into camp the next day, without any one having seen his approach. Hal was the first who discovered him, and as the fellow was alone, begged so hard for permission for him to remain, that I yielded a reluctant a.s.sent, and permitted him to come into camp.

The fellow claimed to be very hungry, a good friend of the whites, and said he was on his way from Mexico, to his home on the Brazos, and only wanted permission to remain, long enough to rest a little and obtain something to eat.

"I don't like the cut of any of them varmints," said Jerry, "they're all natral thieves, and ez likely ez not, thet cuss is a spy. We can't tell nothin' 'bout 'em, and ther best way is, ter steer clear on 'em, or at any rate keep 'em at good rifle range."

Telling Hal not to lose sight of the fellow for an instant, and as soon as he had rested an hour, to start him on, I laid down under one of the wagons for the purpose of taking a _siesta_, but was awakened by hearing Hal loudly inquiring, if any body knew what had become of his pony. No one appeared to know anything about it, but I heard Jerry's voice suggest, that probably his Comanche friend could tell where it was.

This aroused me in an instant, and I crawled out from under the wagon, and, calling Hal, asked him where his horse was, when he saw him last.

He replied,--

"I saw him not half an hour ago, within twenty yards of this spot."

"How did he get away? pull his picket-pin?" asked I.

"No," replied Hal, "the lariat looks as though it had been cut."

"It's plain enuff to tell who's got yer hoss; it's that Comanche. Them varmints are nat'ral hoss thieves, any how."

"Do you mean to tell me, that that Indian could steal my horse, right here, under my very eyes, and I not see him?" angrily asked Hal.

"Well, you see he has, don't yer?" replied Jerry; "and not only you didn't see him, but n.o.body else; and didn't he come walkin' into camp this mornin' and not a soul know it, till he was right amongst us?"

"I don't care if he did, he never could have carried off my pony and I not see him," declared Hal.

"But he did though youngster, as sure's you're a livin boy."

"I'm inclined to think you're right, Jerry; the Comanche has stolen the pony without doubt," said I.

"But how could he?" demanded Hal. "I was sitting right here, close by him all the time."

"Listen Hal, I'll give you a bit of my experience with these same Comanches," said I: "About two years ago, I was sitting on the porch of my ranche, one afternoon, and a couple of Comanches came up and asked for food.

"Manuel, the herder, recognized one of them as a fellow named 'Creeping Serpent,' one of the most expert horse-thieves in his tribe. Naturally enough, I wanted to know how he got the name; and, in consideration of a bright red blanket, he consented to give an exhibition of his skill.

"The animals were all in plain sight, not a hundred yards from the ranche door. I was bound not to lose sight of them, and I didn't; but, in less than half an hour, I saw one of them bounding away over the plain, with an Indian on his back.

"I was so astounded that when the fellow brought the horse back, I made him show me just how it was done; and ever since then, I'm disposed to believe anything relative to the thieving abilities of the Comanches, without question."

"But how did he do it?" persistantly questioned Hal. "He never would have done it before my eyes."

"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed old Jerry. "Didn't one of the cussid varmints, just play the same trick on you?"

"But I won't admit he's got my pony," declared Hal.

"Tell us please, how he stole your horse, will you?" inquired Ned.

He laid himself flat upon the ground, and crawled through the gra.s.s towards the animal selected, using his elbows as the propelling power.